Basketball Recap: Thornton Fractional South Takes a Loss

On Saturday, the Thornton Fractional South Red Wolves came up short against the Lincoln-Way East Griffins and fell 69-61. While losing is never fun, the Red Wolves can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 295th, while the Griffins are ranked 85th).

Despite the loss, Thornton Fractional South saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Amari Dukes went 8 of 12 en route to 26 points and seven rebounds. That's the most points Dukes has posted since back in December of 2024. Another player making a difference was Eion Ikner, who posted seven points and eight boards.

This is the second loss in a row for Thornton Fractional South and nudges their season record down to 11-16. As for Lincoln-Way East, the victory was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 15-8.

Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Thornton Fractional South will venture away from home to challenge Tinley Park at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. As for Lincoln-Way East, they will head out to take on Stagg at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Lincoln-Way East is facing Stagg at the right time seeing as Stagg is stuck on a 22-game losing streak.